TCC And Sinclair Team Up On Degree

A new study ranks Oklahoma's employment growth rate the 6th best in the nation, adding more than 22,000 new jobs last year.  The surge is fueled mostly by the energy industry.  News On 6 anchor Craig Day reports demand for skilled workers has led to a partnership between Sinclair and Tulsa Community College.

The Sinclair Refinery in Tulsa is undergoing a huge expansion that will increase the refinery's output of diesel and gas by more than 60%.  Once that's finished, it will need more employees.

"We're going to be hiring about 100 hourly employees over the next couple of years due to our refinery expansion," said Sinclair's Kim Little.

So, Sinclair is teaming up with Tulsa Community College to make sure they can find trained workers.

"They understood very quickly that they were going to need to be able to draw from a very skilled work force to be able to complete some of the renovations and kinds of processes they do at the Sinclair refinery," said TCC Vice President Lauren Brookey.

TCC is offering a new degree program called Process Technology, which will train students to work as a technician at a plant like Sinclair.

"Safety, quality, they'll be taking some math, chemistry.  as well as some specifics about process technology," said Sinclair's Kim Little.

Once students finish the degree program, Sinclair will guarantee interviews for graduates.

"Much of the class work we already had available, we just put it together in a way that was useful for Sinclair and would really help the student be very successful in a job interview and a potential job at Sinclair," said TCC Vice President Lauren Brookey.

If they're hired by Sinclair, the graduates would start with an entry level salary of $41,000 a year and Sinclair will reimburse students for their tuition costs.

TCC and Sinclair both say the degree program is a good partnership that will benefit students and Oklahoma's economy.

The Process Technology degree can be completed in 18 to 24 months.  Enrollment is underway right now.  Classes begin at the Northeast Campus the week of August 18th.